Monster Hunter Gets Animated Special in 2019

The world of “Monster Hunter” is coming to life in the form of a new animated special. “Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild” is being produced in tandem with worldwide developer and publisher Capcom as well as Pure Imagination Studios.

The companies will produce and co-finance the upcoming Monster Hunter special, written by “Ultimate Spider-Man’s” Joshua Fine. Production is projected for completion this winter, with a global premiere scheduled for 2019.

“Monster Hunter: Legends of the Guild” will focus on an aspiring young monster hunter looking to make a name for himself. He stumbles on a terrifying discovery when he finds that his village is directly in the path of an Elder Dragon, which could cause a dizzying amount of damage and devastation for his home. We don’t know much else beyond that brief summary provided via Capcom at this time, but it should make for an action-packed adventure that “Monster Hunter” fans will enjoy.

“We think die-hard fans will appreciate our dedication to the source material while those uninitiated to the series will still be treated to an epic adventure in a wholly unique world,” said series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto.

Pure Imagination focuses on “building content driven eco-systems and experiences” that live across “multiple platforms of engagement,” according to John P. Roberts, chief content officer. There was no additional information provided regarding the project’s potential distributors, but the studio’s “multiple platform” strategy certainly suggests that the special could be coming to streaming services in the future.

It’s also unclear at this time if the special could become a springboard for a full-fledged series going forward, but given the company’s body of work, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that we could see a “Monster Hunter” series at some point further down the line.

Capcom’s “Monster Hunter” series is a massively popular property, and as a whole has shipped over 48 million units globally since it debuted in 2004. Its most recent release, “Monster Hunter World,” is coming to PC on Aug. 9, and is considered the company’s fastest and best-selling game in its history. The action RPG shipped over 8 million units worldwide, and still enjoys a significantly large player base.

Despite the game’s popularity with fans, however, Capcom’s stock plummeted 12.9 percent on Tuesday following a downgrade from Bank America Merrill Lynch. The firm cited a “significant risk of sales decline” for future sales of “Monster Hunter World.”